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Bill to extend binding arbitration to corrections officers regardless of county size draws labor support, county cost concerns

Labor and Workplace Standards Committee · January 13, 2026
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Summary

HB 2137 would remove a 70,000 population threshold so corrections officers in all city and county jails can access binding interest arbitration; Teamsters representatives urged passage on equity and safety grounds while the Washington State Association of Counties warned of fiscal impacts and requested amendments to protect county budgeting authority.

Committee staff explained that House Bill 2137 would remove a statutory population threshold that currently limits which correctional employees qualify as "uniformed personnel" eligible for binding interest arbitration under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act.

Representative Mary (full name recorded in transcript as Representative Bernofsky) said the bill’s intent was to give more public employees access…

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